Mirrors
by CrypticMoonFang
Summary: Sometimes it only takes one small mistake to throw your entire life off course. Frida made such a mistake...and I regret having allowed her to. MannyxFrida


Chapter 1

Manny's POV

I sighed as I walked down to the prison, Oso in ropes like a package ready to be delivered. In essence, that may as well be what he was.

"I don't know why you're taking me to prison, mans, you're the one who fights with your girlfriend. I j—"

"She's not my girlfriend! Now shut up and walk," I interrupted him, giving him a hard shove forward.

But it was true. Frida snuck out of her house one night a few weeks ago and we'd been on a nonstop fighting spree ever since. I hated fighting with her and she knew that, but it seemed like she was always _trying_ to pick a fight with me. Sadly I got sucked into it and usually lost. It made me wonder even more where she'd gone that night. It wasn't the first time she had snuck out so I didn't think much of it at the time, but the next day, she was...different. And she had been ever since; now I knew I had something to worry about.

As we approached the jailhouse I noticed Frida leaning against the side wall, talking to some of her new friends. I didn't mind her having other friends, but what I did mind was who those friends were. They were all male and unfortunately, they were the bad boys around Miracle City. They came from the wrong side of the tracks and willingly stayed there. To my knowledge, Frida wasn't dating any of them, so I wasn't as concerned about her running off with one of them, but I was very concerned about her getting herself into something she couldn't handle. Some of those boys had done time in the slammer for the kind of crap they pulled. They were known to pressure people into trying the things they did.

I'd warned her about those boys before but she never listened to me. She never listened to _anyone_.

"Hey, I know some of those g—"

"SHUT UP," I growled, giving Oso another hard push.

So maybe I was being a little harsher than usual, but of all villains so far, he was the only one who just didn't know when to quit.

An officer came out and took over for me, leading Oso into the jail and leaving me completely alone, where I had my sights set on one thing and one thing only. Frida.

I power-walked up to her and her new friends, staring them down just long enough for them to know they'd overstayed their welcome in my presence. They casually dispersed, each one looking just as uncomfortable as the next. Apparently I'd misjudged them—they were smarter than they looked. They didn't want to risk being mauled by steel claws and, thanks to the combination of all those years of jailing villains and the adrenaline swelling upon seeing them, brute strength. My skills had grown enough for the entire city to take notice and I genuinely believed there wasn't a single person alive who had the capability of felling El Tigre. Only the strongest, cockiest, or stupidest villains ever stood up to me now. The rest knew I was out of their league—including those boys.

"Manny!" Frida protested. "They're my friends!"

Too late, they were gone and it was already done. I didn't have to waste any energy, didn't have to throw a single blow for them to simply leave her alone.

"No, _I'm_ your friend," I said. "You're going to get yourself hurt if you keep hanging out with those guys."

"You're just jealous because you're too busy to make any other friends."

"Yeah, busy protecting _you!_"

"I don't need your protection, okay? I'm fine on my own."

I almost laughed just to spite her, but held back. It would cause yet another pointless argument and the likelihood of me winning was very slim. There were times I was ready to just give up altogether but I could never bring myself to do it.

I retracted my claws and sighed again.

"Why do we always fight now? What happened to us?"

She snorted and looked somewhere off to her side.

"I'm serious, Frida, we're supposed to be best friends for life. But...now look at us. We fight on a day to day basis. It's like you're trying to push me away or something."

"More like _you're_ trying to push _me_ away. Why can't you let me do my own thing? Just because you're El Tigre doesn't mean you can boss me around and decide who I can and can't be friends with."

I shook my head in disappointment with both her and myself. I never did boss her around but I did look out for her. I didn't know if that was what was ruining our friendship or if it was something else I was missing, but either way, I seemed to be the only one who really cared at this point. I wanted our friendship to last but that was the thing; it appeared to be _only_ me who wanted it to last. When I first met her I thought I'd made a friend for life, but now I had to wonder if I was wrong.

"I'm not saying you can't be friends with them but I really think you shouldn't get too involved," I said.

"That's _your_ opinion, not mine. I can get involved with whoever I want."

"This is a bad idea, Frida. I can feel it in my gut."

"Well it's _my_ idea and _my_ gut says it's fine. And since it's _my_ life we're talking about here, back off!"

She walked away with those last words to me and I didn't attempt to follow her. But that was because I didn't know she would disappear...


End file.
